The present invention relates generally to protective garments for use with gloves.
There are many types of limited use or disposable protective garments and apparel designed to provide barrier properties, including surgical gowns and protective coveralls. Such protective garments are used in situations where isolation of a wearer from a particular environment is desirable, or it is desirable to inhibit or retard the passage of hazardous liquids and biological contaminates through the garment to the wearer.
In surgical procedure environments, such liquids may include patient liquids such as blood, salvia, perspiration and life support liquids such as plasma and saline. Protective garments rely on the barrier properties of the fabrics used in the garment, and on the construction and design of the garment. Openings or seams in some types of protective garments may be unsatisfactory, especially if the seams are located in positions where they may be subjected to stress and/or direct contact with hazardous substances.
Wearers of protective garments frequently don gloves to extend the protective barrier between the wearer and the environment. The interface between the glove and the protective garment can be an area of concern when evaluating the potential for exposure of the wearer to the hazards of the environment. In some instances, the hazardous substances contact the upper portion of the garment sleeves and flow downward toward the garment-glove interface. In such environments, the garment-glove interface can provide an opening through which hazardous substances can come into contact with the wearer. Additionally, the garment-glove interface is frequently subjected to movement and is likely to be in direct contact with or in the flow path of hazardous substances.
Additionally, glove slippage or roll-down occurs if the frictional interface between the interior of the glove surface and the sleeve or cuff exterior surface is insufficient to maintain the glove in an appropriate position.
Some protective garments include a cuff positioned at the end of the sleeve. Such cuffs may be constructed in a variety of ways and may be formed from liquid repellent or liquid retentive materials. In some garments, the garment cuffs may be formed from an elastic material. The elastic material may include a variety of fabrics. Examples of such fabrics include cotton, knits and polyester knits.
In some situations, the glove may be sized to overlap the cuff and a portion of the sleeve to provide additional protection to the wearer at the garment-glove interface. When the cuff is formed from liquid retentive fabrics and a glove is placed over the cuff, perspiration formed within the gown sleeve may collect in the cuffs. As the amount of perspiration retained in the cuff increases, the liquid may migrate to the garment-glove interface. The wearer""s hand and arm movements may assist in moving the retained perspiration toward the garment-glove interface. Strike-through of hazardous liquids may then occur when liquids generated by the environment contact the wearer""s perspiration in the area of the sleeve and cuff.
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a protective garment that may be used in medical environments. The garment may include a garment body, a neck portion and two sleeves attached to the garment body. Each sleeve may include a lower edge and an upper edge.
At least one of the sleeves may also include a glove flap that is disposed above the lower edge of the sleeve. The glove flap may have an upper edge. The glove flap may have sufficient length so that the upper edge of the glove flap may be positioned below the lower edge of the sleeve.
Such a sleeve may also include a positioning feature that may be disposed between the upper edge of the sleeve and the lower edge of the sleeve and may, in some embodiments, define the upper edge of the glove flap. The positioning feature may be configured to retain the glove flap in place when the glove flap has been positioned below the lower edge of the sleeve.
In some embodiments, a cuff may be attached to the lower edge of the sleeve.